Telemedicine in the monitoring of patients with dementia: a Brazilians caregivers’s perspective

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic warranted expanded care via telemedicine across a breath of medical specialties. The aim of the study is to analyze the preferences of caregivers of patients with dementia on the use of telemedicine in monitoring these patients.
Subjects and methods: Caregivers and family members responsible for patients with dementia completed an online self-applicable questionnaire, which was distributed in Facebook and WhatsApp groups between April and October 2020.
Results: 130 responses were obtained; most caregivers were women (83.8%), of whom 60% were daughters of patients. Most patients were also women (75.3%). Alzheimer’s disease caused dementia in 73% of cases. The Internet was accessible to 98% of respondents, yet less than half (33.8%) had used telemedicine at least once. Although 66.9% of caregivers would be willing to use telemedicine if the doctor offered it, 63% believed that the cost of video consultations should be lower than those face-to-face. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 85.3% of caregivers needed to contact the physician: just over half of these consultations were face-to-face (52.2%), but telemedicine was preferred (62.3%) if possible.
Conclusion: Caregivers accepted and were interested in telemedicine as a tool for monitoring patients with dementia, especially those with walking difficulties.